Group Portrait of the Amsterdam Shooting Corporation :: Jacobsz, Dirck

Dirck Jacobsz, the son of Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen was one of the first artists to specialize in portraiture. In 1529 he also painted the first portrait of a civic guard association, which was to became a Dutch speciality. He was later eclipsed by Anthonis Mor of Utrecht, court painter to the Spanish Netherlands. This group portrait is one of the earliest examples of this genre in the Netherlands. The likenesses of 17 marksmen are arranged mechanically in three rows. Their membership in the corporation - a kind of volunteer militia - is indicated by the red and blue capes. The corporation's badge, an eagle's talon, appears on the cape of one of the front-row figures.